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This Week in Health & Medicine

15th April 2017

Maggie MacDonald (C), 72, reacts to an answer from U.S. Representative Ted Yoho (R-FL) about Planned Parenthood during a town hall meeting in Gainesville, Florida, U.S., April 10, 2017. Picture taken April 10, 2017. REUTERS/Phelan Ebenhack

Aaron van Dorn

New York office, The Lancet

This week in health and medicine news from The Lancet USA, President Trump signs a bill allowing states to block funds to Planned Parenthood and other organizations, and has threatened to stop paying Cost Sharing Reductions to insurers as a bargaining tactic to get Democrats to the table on repealing the Affordable Care Act.

Trump Signs Bill Allowing States to Defund Planned Parenthood

President Trump signed a bill in a closed-door session on Thursday that would allow states to preventing federal funding from being given to Planned Parenthood, as well as other groups that perform abortions. The new legislation reverses a rule put in place in the last days of the Obama Administration. Federal law already prevents federal funds from being used to provide abortions, so the new rule prevents Planned Parenthood from providing broad range of other services, such as cancer screenings, contraception and sexually transmitted infection screening. (New York Times)

Trump Threatens ACA Cost Sharing Reduction

After President Trump threatened to stop the Cost Sharing Reduction, or CSR, to insurers as a way to force Democrats to bargain on repealing the Affordable Care Act, Democrats are demanding that CSR be fully funded as permanent, mandatory spending in any omnibus bill that’s passed. Current government funding runs out on April 28. CSR are part of the ACA that reduces the cost of deductibles and other out of pocket expenses for those using insurance. The government reimburses insurers for the cost, and if funding for CSR were withdrawn, many insurers would likely leave the marketplace. (Bloomberg)

Missouri Senate Passes Prescription Drug Monitoring Bill

The State Senate of Missouri has passed a prescription drug monitoring bill aimed at preventing patients from approaching multiple doctors or pharmacies to obtain opioids, the only state in the US that lacked one. The bill would give doctors and pharmacists access to a database of patient data that would inform them of existing prescriptions a patient may have. The bill was passed over the objections of some members, who had privacy concerns. As a result, the final bill specifies that data collected will be purged after 180 days. (Columbia Daily Tribune)

New Technique Can Detect Previously Undetectable Virus Levels

A new method of detecting the presence of viruses is able to do so at levels previously undetectable. The new technique called SHERLOCK, a derivation of CRISPR gene editing system, is able to detect viruses and cancer cells at a sensitivity a thousand times greater than previous techniques. Developed by the Broad Institute at MIT, the system is also much cheaper and faster. The new system has not yet been approved by the FDA, however. (Science)

New York City Trans Fat Ban Sees Results

According to a new study, a 2007 ban on the use of trans fats in restaurants has seen a reduction in heart attacks and strokes when compared to areas that did not implement the ban. Hospital admissions in New York saw a 6% drop in heart attacks and strokes beginning three years after the ban, or a drop of 43 heart attacks and strokes out of 100,000 people a year. The FDA announced in 2015 that the food had until 2018 to cut out trans fats from products in the US. (CBS News)

Schools Consider Letting Students Use Sunscreen

Washington State is considering letting students use sunscreen while they’re at school. Currently, the FDA lists sunscreen as a drug, so it’s prohibited from being brought into k-12 schools without a note from a doctor. Only four states have explicit rules allowing students to use sunscreen, but six states in addition to Washington are considering adopting the policy. (Stat News)